Mel Brooks to receive AFI Lifetime Achievement Award

Mel Brooks, the writer and director behind some of the funniest films ever made, will be honored with the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Mel Brooks is America’s long-reigning king of comedy – and as he taught us long ago, it’s good to be the king,” Howard Stringer, chair of the AFI board of trustees, said in the announcement, reports The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s a master of an art form that rarely gets the respect it deserves, and it is AFI’s honor to shine a bright light on laughter by presenting Mel Brooks the 41st AFI Life Achievement Award.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that Brooks, 86, will be celebrated during a gala tribute on June 6, 2013 in LA. The ceremony will first air on TNT then Turner Classic Movies.

Brooks remains among the rare group of entertainers to win a Grammy, an Emmy, a Tony and an Oscar. He started his career in TV with the 1950s series Your Show of Shows after being a stand up comic. He worked with Carl Reiner and went on to co-create Get Smart with Buck Henry.

He won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for his hilarious first film, 1968’s The Producers, which was later adapted for Broadway. His Young Frankenstein script was also nominated for an Oscar.

Other films of his include Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: Men In Tights and the underrated Silent Movie. He also produced David Lynch’s 1980 film, The Elephant Man.